By Kaeru Ryouseirui and Natsuki Amashiro. Released in Japan as “Umidori Tougetsu no “Detarame” na Jijou” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.
This is one of those titles that I ended up taking a flyer on after seeing Twitter comments by Andrew Cunningham (who ended up translating it after it was licensed), and I thought it sounded pleasantly odd. The start of the book certainly makes you think that’s going to be the case. We meet Umidori, the tall, voluptuous but seemingly normal straight man, and her classmate Nara, who has a normal vocal emotional range but whose face shows no expression. This is good, that’s a quirky character for a quirky series. She then starts to talk about how someone is stealing her pencils, showing a somewhat monomaniacal obsession with them, and Umidori seemingly responding with “uh huh” and “is that so” responses. This then leads up to the payoff, when we find out the true culprit behind the theft. Even when we see WHY the pencils are being stolen, I went “OK, wow, that’s very, very weird” but it was still to be expected. Then Bullshit-chan showed up.
So yeah, as you may have figured out, Umidori is not just the straight man of this series. She’s unable to lie, to anyone, and as you can imagine this has left her upsetting everyone around her, to the point where she makes sure never to get too close to anyone – even Nara, who she is seemingly good friends with. Then Bullshit-chan shows up at her apartment, furious, and wielding a knife, and starts to explain the plot, and you realize that this is not a “eccentric high school kids” series but a “supernatural action drama with utterly messed up protagonists” series. This is compounded by Nara showing up, who talks about her own issues (which are somewhat hamstrung by the art for the series – it’s fine, but anytime you have someone who is “the most beautiful person in the world” and you have to draw them, it’s never going to work). And then the ACTUAL bad guys appear.
The main plot for the series in general seems to be to get Umidori to be able to lie, as her truth-telling is presented as a condition or “curse” rather than her own choice. I also get the feeling that it’s going to be getting Umidori friends as well – thanks to a conveniently plotted glass of alcohol, she doesn’t even remember how her words a year ago saved Nara from a fate where she too may have cast off everyone around her. (Umidori of course lives in an apartment by herself, and her parents are divorced). As for Bullshit-chan, she’s an interesting concept, but at the moment that’s all she is – I’m not as invested in her as I am in Umidori and Nara. I did like the villain – no, not the concept, but the human behind it, and her own twisted desires and how they ended up horrifying everyone (which seems to be the theme with those afflicted by the series’ concept.)
If it sounds like I’m trying to write around giving any spoilers, you’re right. This is best experienced cold. It’s good, though. Try it.